House buying advice please

towseriv

Is it insulting to offer 87k for a house up for 97k? Ow would this be seen as a good starting point if they turn it down. There is nothing really wrong with the house and it is in a decent location.

Is a dozen viewings without any offers par for the course (this is what the estate agent says)

I understand every situation is different but just some general advice would be good as we are lost FTB's

Thanks in advance

TowserIV

HGLTsuperstar

You can start with any bid you like, so go for it. Remembre you can always up your bid but near impossible to drop it (unless dodgy survey etc). Who knows you might get a bargain!

FaTB

towseriv wrote:

Is it insulting to offer 87k for a house up for 97k?

Definately not in the current climate, I imagine they'll be happy to get an offer at all, its a buyers market.

MORPH3US

Only problem with that bid is, you don't expect to get it for that price so if they bite your hand off you'll be left wondering "what is wrong with it for them to accept such a low offer!"

M

skintchick

In the current climate, it's a buyers' market. Prices are dropping in response to the general lack of interest from buyers at what they now perceive to be silly prices. Ten grand is lower than their offer, but it depends on their circumstances. Certainly, if they say no instantly then you need to offer more, but I don;t think in the current climate it's insulting, because there is a general downturn at the moment.

It does depend on where you are - in my area you can't get a garage for £97k!

towseriv

It's a two bedroom end terrace in Lincolnshire. Also since we are willing to wait up to six months before we move in and I know the current owners are yet to find a place would it be good to build this into our offer? i.e. If you accept this we will give you up to a maximum of six months before completion?

towseriv

p.s

what % increase in house prices has occured between 2003 and now? Anyone know please?

spottydog

towseriv wrote:

p.s

what % increase in house prices has occured between 2003 and now? Anyone know please?

It depends on the area and type of property check out the land registry for prices by type and postcode and nethouseprices.com for individual house prices.

I would certainly not suggest waiting up to 6 months before moving dates, if your vendors actually want to move they will either find somewhere or move into rented. Also mortgage offers are often not valid for that long. If I was to put a time on the move in the current climate I would be looknig the other way i.e. exchange within a month and complete within 2.

lush_walrus

Im going to go against the advice you have have been given Im afraid and say be careful offering very low prices without first taking a proper look at prices of simular properties available on the market. If you offer very low (which to my ears a drop of £10,000 on a property of that value is) you may well insult the vendor enough for them to not look at you as a serious buyer.

12 plus viewers is very normal, not many people buy the first property they view.

Do some research around your area and see what prices simular properties are going for, speak to the agent as they will know what the vendors are looking for pricewise and make a judgement based on the information you have collected. Be very careful making judgements like that based on opinions on here as we all live in different areas where local markets are doing very different things.

lush_walrus

spottydog wrote:

If I was to put a time on the move in the current climate I would be looknig the other way i.e. exchange within a month and complete within 2.

WHAT! Not in my area I can tell you!!! 8 weeks is a very short period of time for most solicitors to complete searches and for all in the chain to have funds in place at the very dead end of the market.

Average time from offer to completion is far more likely to be in excess of 12 weeks, and in my area far more like 16!

Effectively by saying you will give up to 6 months to find somewhere and move you are doing the opposite of giving them something that will provide a monetary bonus, you are actually threatening that if it isnt complete by 6 months then something will happen.

If you want the house leave it loose and give the vendors breathing space, it is perfectly normal for vendors to start looking for a property after getting an offer on theirs as no offer is ever considered to be serious unless the chain below is complete.

towseriv

"Do some research around your area and see what prices simular properties are going for, speak to the agent as they will know what the vendors are looking for pricewise and make a judgement based on the information you have collected. Be very careful making judgements like that based on opinions on here as we all live in different areas where local markets are doing very different thing"

I know to only take this advice as general. I base my price on the fact that I know through research they paid just over 80k for the house three years ago. Have house prices really gone up 21% in the last two years? Also surley if I ask the estate agant acting on thier behalf what kind of price they are looking for they are going to tell me 97k?